Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

= An irrational fear of an object or situation.

Question 2

What do behavioural characteristics mean?

Answer 2

The way in which people act.

Question 3

What are the behavioural characteristics of a phobia?

Answer 3

• Panic = scream or run away.
• Avoidance = conscious effort to avoid.
• Endurance = may stand and bear it.

Question 4

What are the emotional characteristics of a phobia?

Answer 4

• Anxiety = unpleasant state of high arousal, disproportionate to threat.
• Fear = short-lasting, more intense.

Emotional response is unreasonable and disproportionate to the threat.

Question 5

What is the two process model?

Answer 5

• Acquire a phobia through classical conditioning.
• Maintain a phobia through operant conditioning.

Question 6

Acquisition by classical conditioning.

Answer 6

UCS + NS = UCR (fear)

CS + CR (fear)

-This conditioning can be generalised to similar objects. For example, little Albert became afraid of other furry objects.

• This conditioning happens through one-trial learning = does not require multiple interactions with the feared object.

Question 7

Maintaining the phobia.

Answer 7

• By avoiding the phobia, you don’t get anxious or stressed.
• This is negative reinforcement, because you are avoiding a negative experience.
• This reinforces the phobia, maintaining it because by avoiding it you do not experience anxiety.